A second power outage in two days in Armstrong St - both during the lunchtime rush - has highlighted the need for further infrastructure upgrades and future planning, say business owners in the precinct.
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An outage occurred at around 1pm on Wednesday, cutting power to businesses along the busy street, which has become the hub of food retail in Ballarat in recent years. It followed a previous outage on Tuesday, and the unfortunate timing of the lack of power has upset business owners, who were unable to conclude transactions, wash dishes or serve customers.
Commerce Ballarat CEO Jodie Gillett was having lunch at Armstrong Street Vietnamese restaurant Saigon Alley when the power went out yesterday. She says it's critical for businesses to have a reliable power supply, especially during high-volume turnover periods.
"A lack of power obviously costs a business money," Ms Gillett said, "but we also need to plan for the growth in these businesses.
She says supplier Powercor needs to maintain a local connection to Ballarat businesses.
Tim Matthews of The Forge Pizzeria says a rise in power amperage would help activate the street.
"For example, in our new bakery, we asked for 165 amps," he told The Courier.
"We got 100 amps, so you plan your business around that. The ovens can't be on at the same time as the air-conditioning. Yesterday, one phase went out, so you get some things working and some not.
"We'd welcome an upgrade - it's been a food precinct for years, the City (of Ballarat) and Powercor know it's a food precinct."
Sam Griffin of Griffin Burger agreed. He said with the outage occurring at 1pm, it affected the busy lunch trade.
Powercor told The Courier the outage was caused by a fuse activating in the local network, and crews attended the incident as quickly as possible to restore power.
Minimisation work was also being undertaken in the area to reduce further outages.